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Soft Drink Warning Labels?

A New Zealand coroner recommended warning labels be placed
on soft drinks after the court linked Coca-Cola to the death of
31-year-old Natasha Harris.

Last week, a New Zealand coroner linked the 2010 death of
Natasha Harris, a 31-year-old mother of eight, to health complications
brought on by her excessive consumption of Coca-Cola.

The coroner, David Crerar, did not hold the Coca-Cola company responsible for the woman's death. However, he recommended that warning labels be placed on soft drinks in an effort to educate the public about the health risks associated with overconsumption of sugary, caffeinated beverages.

The suggestion is now facing criticism from both sides of the debate. While Coca-Cola and beverage industry associations have rejected the use of such labels as unfair, some critics of sugary drinks think that warnings alone might not be enough to impact public health.

According to depositions submitted to the coroner's inquest, Harris drank more than 2 gallons of Coke every day.
Due to her habit, Crerar estimated that the woman's intake of caffeine
was almost double the daily amount considered healthy. In addition, he
estimated Harris consumed the equivalent of 2 pounds of sugar a day.

In an email to The Huffington Post, Coca-Cola expressed sympathy for
Harris and her family but said that it does "not believe soft drinks
should be singled out from other beverages and foods for additional
labeling requirements," claiming that "[the] caffeine levels in Coke are
less than many other commonly consumed beverages," such as instant
coffee and tea.

Freedhoff said he "wouldn't be opposed" to health warnings on packaging, since they've been shown effective in discouraging smoking, but he noted that in the case of soft drinks, labels alone might not be enough to impact public health.

"With warning labels the only intervention, I doubt we'd see huge
change. Couple warning labels with taxes on added sugars, public health
campaigns explaining the risks inherent to their consumptions, limits on
cups sizes ... and inclusion of added sugars as risky to school
curricula, and I'd bet we'd see a big difference," Freedhoff wrote in an
email to HuffPost.

"Regular consumption of [sugar sweetened beverages] is
associated with a higher risk of [coronary heart disease] in women, even
after other unhealthful lifestyle or dietary factors are accounted
for."

This finding is significant because critics of the New Zealand
coroner's decision, which include Coca-Cola and trade associations, have
pointed to health factors such as Harris' poor diet and heavy smoking
habit as a way to detract from the role of sweetened beverages in her
death.

Once again, legislating to the lowest common denominator...This is why we're declining intellectually as a society, we're obsessed with protecting the stupid from themselves. We're getting rid of Darwinism.

Because of the litigious society we live in (although this took place in New Zealand), companies almost have to put warning labels that ought to be unnecessary on products. How long before someone sues Coca-Cola because they didn't have a warning label on the drinks? McDonald's has to put a warning on coffee to tell you it's hot - duh. Soup cans tell you not to cook the soup inside the can.

I think the invention of soda was the stupidest thing ever. Everywhere you go in the States, soda is everywhere. It's the only thing people seem to drink when they eat. My daughters have never had a soda. I haven't had one in nearly 10 years. People seriously need to get a clue about this crap they drink

too much of anything is bad for you.........do any of us use the brains that we have now. Soda with sugar.....bad. Soda with aspartame.....worse! So basically if your drinks are not make with stevia.........you are drinking calories, or cancer....you decide!

OMG. If we are going to put warning labels on soda because of this woman, I hope this is what it says: "Attention! You would have to be an idiot to think Drinking over a gallon of this a day will not cause health issues, but in case you are that stupid, please be advised that drinking this in abundance is not good for you."

Interestingly, it was initially concocted as patent medicine (all of them, from ginger ale to 7up) --and sold because they work.

Cola syrup is a very effective anti-emetic, rehydration beverage and anti-diarrheal, which is important in a time when diarrhea still killed half the children...

Quoting Ravishing_dame:

I think the invention of soda was the stupidest thing ever. Everywhere you go in the States, soda is everywhere. It's the only thing people seem to drink when they eat. My daughters have never had a soda. I haven't had one in nearly 10 years. People seriously need to get a clue about this crap they drink

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